Stacey Gregg’s debut feature starts promisingly. Set in her native Northern Ireland, it stars Andrea Riseborough as a bereaved mother who bonds with the daughter of her new neighbours. Moody weather, an unsteady electronic score and cute-but-creepy young Megan (Niamh Dornan) suggest we’re heading into horror territory. The increasingly desperate Laura (Riseborough) is bewitched by the 10-year-old, who reminds her of her own late child.
Gregg crafts a spooky atmosphere charged with the supernatural. Riseborough’s intensity helps sell the idea of a possible otherworldly presence, but the script is less committed, faltering with a lacklustre ending.